In the distribution of various consumable beverage products, such as premix or postmix soft drink beverages which are delivered to restaurants and other eating facilities, each beverage product is commonly enclosed within a portable stainless steel tank adapted to contain approximately five gallons. The tank is usually provided with two check valves which are connected to flexible hoses or lines for pressurizing the tank with carbon dioxide gas and for dispensing the beverage from the tank. Each of the valves usually carries an O-ring seal and preferably is provided with a sanitary protective dust cap which is molded of a plastics material. The dust cap has one or more inwardly projecting and circumferencially extending internal ribs to provide for snap-fitting the dust cap onto the O-ring seal of the dispensing valve.
One form of sanitary dust cap which has been produced for many years by applicant's assignee is a disposable dust cap which is placed on each valve by the beverage producer when the portable tank receives a premeasured volume of a beverage. After the filled tank is delivered to its destination and is ready for use, the dust cap is removed from its valve and is discarded. The valves are then coupled or connected to corresponding flexible hoses or lines which provide for removing or dispensing the beverage product from the tank.
Another form of sanitary protective dust cap which has been manufactured by applicant's assignee is a reusable dust cap wherein the cap is molded of a plastics material and is connected by a narrow flexible link to an integrally molded annular retaining loop portion which snap-fits onto the base portion of the valve and remains attached to the valve. When it is desired to snap-fit the cap onto the valve, the flexible link, connecting the cap to the retainer loop, is bent or flexed. Thus when the cap is removed from the valve after the beverage tank arrives at its destination and is ready to be connected, the cap remains attached to the valve by the connecting link portion and retainer loop. The cap is subsequently sanitized with the tank after the tank is returned to the supplier for another supply of a beverage product.
Usually each molded plastic sanitary dust cap is printed by hot-stamping with a trademark which corresponds to the beverage product contained within the tank, for example, with one of the well known trademarks such as COCA-COLA or PEPSI-COLA or DR PEPPER. The beverage tank is also commonly provided with a separate label and/or tag which identifies the producer of the beverage product, the ingredients used in making the product and the volume of the product within the tank. The labels are preprinted and usually attached to the tank by adhesive, and the tags are commonly die-cut from a sheet of plastics material, and each tag is provided with a die-cut hole which is adapted to receive the dispensing valve for attaching the tag to the tank.